How much is the price per jin for the Yangtze River Fish King, the Chinese sturgeon, and what are the investment costs and profits?

The sturgeon, also known as the Chinese sturgeon, is a first-class nationally protected wild animal in our country. Although the sturgeon is very precious, it can also be artificially farmed, and its meat quality is superior to the expensive salmon. Today I will introduce to you how much the sturgeon costs per jin as well as an analysis of investment costs and profits!

I. Introduction to the Sturgeon

1. The sturgeon, also known as the Chinese sturgeon, kaluga sturgeon, kulaz, and zhan, is a large migratory fish belonging to the class Osteichthyes, subclass Actinopterygii, superorder Ganoidomorpha, order Acipenseriformes. The sturgeon is the largest fish in the Yangtze River. Males generally weigh 68-106 kg, and females 130-250 kg, hence it is also called the “Yangtze River Fish King.” Moreover, the sturgeon can live up to 40 years and has been listed by China as a first-class wild animal protected species.

2. In China, the sturgeon is mainly distributed in the main stream of the Yangtze River from below the Jinsha River to the estuary, and occasionally appears in other river systems such as the Ganjiang, Xiangjiang, Minjiang, Qiantangjiang and Pearl River systems.

3. The sturgeon is a bottom-dwelling fish, inhabiting the coastal continental shelf zone from the west coast of Korea in the north to the southeastern coast of China in the south. Its feeding habits are very narrow, and it is a carnivorous fish. In rivers it mainly feeds on some small or slow-moving benthic animals, while in the ocean it mainly feeds on fish, followed by crustaceans, and less on mollusks.

II. How much does the sturgeon cost per jin?

1. Since the Chinese sturgeon is a first-class nationally protected animal, its sale and consumption are prohibited. Therefore, wild Chinese sturgeon absolutely must not be caught or eaten. What can be eaten on the market is artificially farmed. Even selling artificially farmed sturgeon requires approval from the fisheries administration department at or above the provincial level and obtaining an aquatic wildlife business license.

2. The sturgeon varieties mainly farmed in our country include the large hybrid, Siberian sturgeon, Amur sturgeon, kaluga, Russian sturgeon, beluga and other hybrid sturgeons. In the past, the selling price of sturgeon was as high as over a hundred yuan per jin. Now, with the expansion of farming scale, the price has returned to reason, with the market price at around 20-40 yuan per jin.

III. Sturgeon Farming Prospects, Investment Costs and Profit Analysis

1. China's sturgeon industry occupies an important position in the global sturgeon industry and has always been the world's largest sturgeon farming country.

2. Today the sturgeon farming industry chain has shifted from single commodity fish farming to a full industry chain model, forming a complete industry chain including sturgeon fry breeding, feed processing, commodity fish production, caviar processing, sturgeon meat product processing, sturgeon by-product processing, tourism and caviar food culture promotion, with considerable prospects.

3. Sturgeon farming has the following advantages:

(1) Fast growth and short breeding cycle;

(2) Strong adaptability to the environment (can be farmed in both north and south);

(3) After artificial domestication, sturgeon can eat artificial compound feed;

(4) The survival temperature of sturgeon is 0-30°C, and it has a very wide range of salinity adaptability, and can live in both salt and fresh water;

(5) Strong disease resistance, because the sturgeon's body surface has a layer of cuticle rubber, it is generally not easy to be injured or infected;

(6) The sturgeon is docile in temperament, not good at jumping, and easy to catch.

4. Sturgeon farming investment costs and profits

At a sturgeon farming base in Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County, villager Ms. Pan and her husband began farming cold-water sturgeon relying on the mountain spring water that flows continuously in front of her home all year round. After a period of farming study, in 2016 Ms. Pan cooperated with relatives and built a sturgeon farming base covering 5 mu beside a river channel flowing past her home, adapting to local conditions and the terrain.

In 2017 Ms. Pan's sturgeon base was completed. The more than 70,000 Chinese sturgeon fry she purchased, with her relatives investing a total of nearly 2 million yuan. Because of the good local water quality, the sturgeon farmed by Ms. Pan has a beautiful build, bright color, tender meat and fresh taste, and is very favored by buyers. Now she can sell more than 500 jin of fish every day, and sells 50,000 kg of finished fish a year. After deducting the costs of fry, feed and labor, she can earn 1 million yuan a year, and can recover all the investment in the base in two years.

Later, Ms. Pan plans to adopt a “cooperative + farmers” model and sign fish farming agreements with villagers. Farmers only need to farm according to the requirements. She hopes to develop the fish farming industry and drive the villagers in the village to get rich together.

The above is the relevant introduction to sturgeon prices and prospects and profits. Today the state focuses on developing marketable specialty and superior varieties, high value-added varieties and varieties with relatively high returns, and the sturgeon is one of those strongly supported, so it is also a favorable period for farming. However, farmers with ideas still need to understand relevant policies and investigate the market well.